Curated by Hideo Hashiura, founder of Tokyo vintage store LAILA, the two-week show reframes 1980s avant-garde through an accessible lens.
For two weeks in June, LA MUSEUM is occupying an unused Shibuya office building, reimagining the space as a time capsule of late-20th-century fashion. Titled “LA MUSEUM SHIBUYA,” the archival exhibit marks the second-ever physical outing from the fashion archive platform and opens its doors to the public for the first time. Curated by Hideo Hashiura, owner of Tokyo vintage destination LAILA, the show offers an immersive, street-level encounter with era-defining designs by Martin Margiela, Yohji Yamamoto, John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, and others who shaped the 1980s avant-garde.
Divided into five thematic sections, the exhibition is arranged across a single floor, where mannequins display original looks from Comme des Garçons and Issey Miyake. The installation favors direct engagement over glassed-off reverence: visitors circulate among the pieces, which sit within arm’s reach. Surrounding walls are animated with projected imagery from photographer and Fruits editor Shoichi Aoki, whose documentation of street style and 1980s and ’90s runways—particularly Margiela’s early shows—adds an editorial lens to the archival presentation.
The exhibition draws from the museum’s extensive digital collection, launched in 2024 with a mission to preserve and recontextualize fashion history through both physical and online formats. While its inaugural in-person show catered to just 30 invitees, this follow-up adopts an open-door model, signaling a broader public-facing strategy. For younger audiences and style-savvy locals, the shift presents a rare opportunity to experience historical fashion outside traditional institutional frameworks.
Hashiura’s curatorial approach—rooted in years of sourcing and selling vintage—grounds the exhibit in material knowledge rather than academic abstraction. By selecting the location in one of Tokyo’s busiest neighborhoods and prioritizing accessibility, La Museum positions archival fashion not as an untouchable artifact but as a living cultural text.
As interest in fashion archiving continues to expand—driven by both industry retrospection and consumer curiosity—La Museum’s exhibition reflects a growing appetite for historical access without institutional gatekeeping. Whether this model becomes a template for future archival engagement remains to be seen, but in Tokyo this month, it signals a shift in how fashion history is accessed and understood.
